Device for fixing at an adjustable angle

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a device for fixing a piece extending over a roof surface at an adjustable angle to the roof surface, a coupling piece on the roof surface being fitted with a cover piece, the angle of which relative to the coupling piece may be adjusted by pivoting about an axis. The fixing of the cover piece to the coupling piece is achieved by means of corresponding toothed rings which may be brought into and out of engagement by the rotation of a bolt, provided with an eccentric surface.

The invention relates to a device, for example a ventilation device or an antenna mounting connection, which is fixed to the roof surface and projects upward above the latter. The device has especially good adaptability to the respective roof inclination.

The embodiments described below for ventilation devices which project above the roof surface and which can be adapted to the respective inclination of the roof surface are all based on the following basic principle: A surface in the form of a dome cut off at the top projects upward from the plane of a roof decking plate. A hood-like surface is put onto this dome from outside, said hood-like surface likewise being open in its center and carrying a tube there. The dome surface and the adjoining part of the hood surface are at least approximately partial surfaces of coaxially arranged, rotationally symmetrical hollow bodies, the hood surface lying on the outside and the common axis lying horizontally parallel to the roof surface. The dome surface lies such as to be invariable relative to the roof surface. The hood surface is pivotable relative to the dome surface about said common axis and can be fixed in the respectively appropriate pivoted position. The tube connected to the hood surface can be oriented vertically independently of the existing roof slope.

According to DE 195 17 885 C1, the hood part is fixed in its position on the dome part by the two parts, as soon as they are in the correct angular position relative to one another, being brought into engagement with tooth system regions complementary to one another. In this case, the tooth systems are provided closer to the roof plane than said common axis of dome part and hood part. The tooth system on the hood part forms a partial outer lateral surface of a gear and that on the dome part forms a partial inner lateral surface. They are engaged and disengaged by the hood part being moved toward or away from the roof surface by rotating two eccentric pins, by means of which it is fixed to the dome part in the region of the common axis.

An advantage with this type of construction is that the correct setting can be re-adjusted at any time. A disadvantage is that the common axis of dome part and hood part comes to lie markedly above the roof surface, whereby the entire device has a very bulky appearance in side view and also requires a great deal of material.

According to AT 405 430 B, the hood part and the dome part are fixed to one another in the correct pivoted position in the following manner: a tube runs through both parts. On the dome part, the tube is held against upward movement by a stop, but is otherwise pivotable. In the longitudinal region running over the hood part, the tube is provided with an external thread, with which an annular nut is in engagement, by means of which the hood part is pressed against the dome part.

Considerable disadvantages with this embodiment are: the fixing of the individual parts relative to one another in the correct position requires a very high degree of manual skill. During the fixing operation, the individual parts often slip out of the correct position relative to one another. The parts are often not mounted on one another sufficiently firmly; the inclination of the hood part is then inadmissibly altered during loading, e.g. by the pressure of snow. For reasons of space, the range within which the inclination is adjustable is restricted compared with other solutions as a result of the tube which runs through hood part and dome part; the situation can be helped by the hood part being rotated by 180° about a vertical axis for flat roofs, a factor which in turn complicates the assembly.

According to DE 198 46 120 C1, the hood part and the dome part are likewise held on one another in the correct position relative to one another by corresponding tooth systems. An inner circumferential section of a toothed rim on the dome part corresponds with an outer circumferential section of a toothed rim on the hood part. The tooth systems are in this case provided in the end face region of dome surface and hood surface, respectively, between a common pivot axis and at a maximum distance from the roof surface. The tooth system piece on the hood part is provided on the latter at a lug which is pivotable within the elastic range. When the hood part and the dome part are fitted together, the tooth systems come automatically into engagement. By means of a tool, for example, a screwdriver, the lug which carries the tooth system of the hood part can be deformed in such a way that the tooth systems disengage.

An advantage with this principle is the low type of construction possible. A disadvantage is that hood part and dome part can never be fixed against one another free of play as a result of unavoidable tolerances in length, and that it is difficult to almost impossible to dimension the elastic lug carrying the tooth system in such a way that, on the one hand, it holds sufficiently effectively in the fixed state at all the temperatures which occur and in the face of unavoidable tolerances of material properties—also in particular when snow presses against it from roof regions situated further above—but on the other hand can be deliberately released by elastic deformation. The requirement that it must be possible to engage and disengage the tooth systems by elastic deformation is too contradictory to the need to use teeth of large dimensions in order to be able to achieve sufficient strength. A further disadvantage consists in the fact that a tool and also some dexterity are required in order to release the fixed parts from one another again.

According to AT 412 793, the dome part and the hood part are held on one another in the correct angular position by mutually engaging saw tooth systems and by pins which are arranged in the common pivot axis. The tooth systems are located on the outermost lateral surface region of dome surface and hood surface, respectively. The hood surface can be rotated toward the roof surface region lying at the top; in the process, the saw teeth slide off one another. The tooth systems lock against opposed pivoting movement.

With this type of construction, it is simple to bring the tube projecting beyond the roof surface from a setting suitable for flat roofs into one which is suitable for steep roofs. However, it is thus only possible with considerable difficulty—namely by dismantling the arrangement—to change the setting of the inclination in the opposite direction. Here, too, the requirement that it must be possible or is to be possible to engage and disengage the tooth systems by elastic deformation is too contradictory to the need to use teeth of large dimensions in order to be able to achieve sufficient strength.

Proceeding from this prior art, the object of the inventor is to provide a leadthrough, which can be set to the roof surface inclination, through the roof surface, consisting of dome part and hood part pivotable thereto, said leadthrough meeting the following conditions:

-   -   it is to be simple to bring the hood part on the dome part into         the correct position and fix it there,     -   the fixing is to be simple when required and is to be releasable         without the use of a tool,     -   the fixing is to be reliable and firm,     -   the functions are to be robust in the face of extreme         environmental conditions, dimensional tolerances of the         components and tolerances of the properties of the materials         used,     -   it is to be possible for the dome and the hood to be of low         construction.

The type of construction according to the invention, by means of which the object is achieved, has firstly the following known features:

-   -   A type of construction having a dome and a hood is taken as a         basis, wherein the dome projects from the plane of a roof         decking plate and is partly enclosed from outside by a hood,         wherein the dome and the adjoining part of the hood are at least         approximately partial surfaces of coaxially arranged,         rotationally symmetrical hollow bodies, wherein the hood surface         lies on the outside, and the common axis lies horizontally         parallel to the roof surface. The hood surface is pivotable         relative to the dome surface about said common axis and can be         fixed in the respectively appropriate pivoted position. That         part which extends over the roof surface and which is to be         oriented vertically in the normal case independently of the         inclination of the roof surface is connected to the hood.     -   The fixing or the release of this fixing between hood part and         dome part is produced by engaging or respectively disengaging         circumferential regions of corresponding toothed rims on dome         part and hood part.     -   To fix or release the hood part and the dome part on one         another, the hood part is moved relative to the dome part by         virtue of the fact that a pin which is rotatably mounted in one         of the two parts is rotated and bears with an eccentric region         of its lateral surface against a stop surface on the second         part.

Secondly, the type of construction has the following novel features compared with the types of construction having the abovementioned known features:

-   -   The tooth systems are located at regions of dome part and hood         part which lie further away from the roof plane than the pivot         axis between dome part and hood part.     -   The toothed rim on the hood part forms an inner circumferential         region and the toothed rim on the dome part forms an outer         circumferential region.

The following novel features constitute advantageous developments:

-   -   The tooth systems are located at the margins of the lateral         surface of the hood part toward its end faces, and at the         margin, that is to say at the circumference, of the end faces of         the dome part at which said end faces merge into the lateral         surface. The pin is not located at the pivot axis between dome         part and hood part but rather is located between the tooth         systems and the pivot axis.     -   In the region of the pivot axis, the dome part and the hood part         are held against a stop by pivot stubs which rest in place in a         bearing shell complementary thereto.     -   The pin is held against undesirable axial movement by a stop on         that part on which it is rotatably mounted, said stop being         formed by the end face of a flexible tongue extending from the         lateral surface of the pin.

The invention will become clearer with reference to the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic sketch of the invention in a lateral sectional view. In this case, the hood part and the dome part are fixed to one another.

FIG. 2 shows the same arrangement in the same view as FIG. 1, the hood part and the dome part being pivotable relative to one another.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a pin for fixing or releasing the hood and dome parts.

The dome 1.2 projects from the flat part 1.1, lying approximately in the roof plane, of the roof decking plate 1. This dome is essentially a partial surface of a circular-cylindrical hollow body which has the axis of symmetry 4.

The hood part 2 bears with its bottom surface on the outside against the dome 1. The dome 1.2 is provided with external toothed rims 1.3 preferably where the two end walls, normal to the axis 4, merge into the lateral surface of the dome. The hood part 2 is provided with corresponding internal toothed rims 2.3 which preferably at the margins of the lateral surface where the latter merges into the end faces. The tooth systems are thus located at the best-supported surface regions of dome and hood and can therefore be designed to be very strong and can also be subjected to high loading without inadmissibly loading the structure to which they are fastened.

A wall, normal to the axis 4, of the hood part (2) is provided with a circular hole at a point between axis 4 and toothed rim 1.3. The adjoining wall of the dome part (1) is provided with an aperture 1.4 which is partly in alignment therewith and whose margin remote from the axis 4 runs at a constant distance from the axis 4. A pin 3 extends through the hole in the hood part and the adjoining aperture 1.4 in the dome part. The pin is rotatably mounted about its longitudinal axis in the hood part. In that longitudinal region of the pin 3 which lies in the wall region of the dome part, said pin 3 is provided on one side of its lateral surface with a circumferential region 3.2 which lies closer to the pin axis than the opposite lateral surface region.

In the position shown in FIG. 1, the pin, with the lateral surface region opposite the circumferential region 3.2, bears against that margin of the aperture 1.4 of the dome part which is remote from the axis 4. Since the pin is not linearly movable on the hood part normal to its axis, movement of the hood part away from the dome part is not possible. The tooth systems 1.3 and 2.3 are in engagement. Pivoting movement of the hood part relative to the dome part is not possible.

In the example shown, a circular-cylindrical pivot stub 2.5 projects from the hood part 2 into a recess 1.5 of a surface of the dome part normal to the axis 4 and bears there against two flanks of this recess at a point at which said flanks form an acute angle to one another, which is oriented in such a way that, in the projection onto an end plane of the dome, at least most of the teeth 1.3 would lie between its legs imagined to be extended. Thus the tooth system on the one hand and the contact point on the other hand form a pair of stop surfaces against pivoting movement between hood part and dome part. The pin 3 arranged in between is therefore not loaded or is only loaded very slightly during instantaneous stress between hood part and dome part.

In FIG. 2, the pin 3 is rotated by 180° about its axis relative to its position in FIG. 1, such that its flattened lateral surface region 3.2 bears against the side remote from the axis 4. The hood part can thus be moved slightly away from the dome part, such that the tooth systems are disengaged. The hood part can be pivoted relative to the dome part. If the pin 3 is rotated further about its axis by about one quarter of a rotation, the tooth systems are engaged again, and the hood part is fixed.

FIG. 3 illustrates how the pin 3 can be provided with flexible tongues 3.3 which ensure that the pin cannot fall out of the hole in the hood part—which would be very troublesome when working on an inclined roof. Nonetheless, the pin can be inserted into the hole in a simple manner, since the flexible tongues 3.3 give way elastically in the process. It is advantageous to provide the pin 3 with a grip part 3.4 which is not rotationally symmetrical but rather has the shape of a plate.

Owing to the fact that the pin connection serving for fixing and release scarcely needs to absorb forces in the fitted state, it can be greatly optimized for ease of operation and reliable functioning.

Owing to the fact that the tooth systems are provided in the top dome region, the dome can be kept flat, whereby more pleasing appearance can be achieved and material saved.

The device described can be most effectively realized from plastic injection moldings. However, it may also be formed from individual metal parts. 

1. A device for fixing a part projecting above a roof surface to the roof surface at an adjustable angle, wherein a surface in the form of a dome projects from the plane of a roof decking plate and is connected thereto, a hood-like surface being put onto said dome surface from outside, wherein the dome surface and the adjoining hood surface are at least approximately partial surfaces of coaxially arranged, rotationally symmetrical hollow bodies, wherein the common axis lies horizontally parallel to the roof surface, and the hood surface is pivotable relative to the dome surface about said common axis and can be fixed in the respectively appropriate pivoted position, wherein the fixing or the release of this fixing between hood part and dome part is effected by engaging or respectively disengaging circumferential regions of corresponding toothed rims, wherein the relative movement between hood part and dome part which leads to the engaging of the tooth systems is effected by rotation of a pin which is rotatably mounted in one of the two parts and bears with an eccentric region of its lateral surface against a stop surface on the second part, characterized in that the corresponding tooth systems of dome part and hood part lie further away from the roof plane than the pivot axis, and in that the tooth system on the dome part forms an outer lateral surface and the tooth system on the hood part forms an inner lateral surface.
 2. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the engaging tooth systems on dome part and hood part are each located at the transition regions between end faces and lateral surfaces.
 3. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the pin serving for fixing and release is arranged at a radial distance from the pivot axis.
 4. The device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the pin is arranged between the tooth systems on the one hand and the pivot axis on the other hand.
 5. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the dome part and the hood part bear against one another in the region close to the pivot axis in the form of a pivot stub on the one hand and of a surface bearing against its lateral surface on the other hand.
 6. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the pin is held against axial movement by a latching device on that part on which it is rotatably mounted.
 7. The device as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the latching device is formed by a flexible tongue which extends from the lateral surface of the pin and whose end face is arrested during axial movement of the pin. 